Eminent Domain

Eugene Volokh has posted the results of the academic misconduct investigation of Ward Churchill. The results are as follows...

Two members of the Committee conclude and recommend that Professor Churchill should not be dismissed. They reach this conclusion because they do not think his conduct so serious as to satisfy the criteria for revocation of tenure and dismissal set forth in section 5.C.1 of the Law of the Regents, because they are troubled by the circumstances under which these allegations have been made, and because they believe that his dismissal would have an adverse effect on other scholars' ability to conduct their research with due freedom. These two members agree and recommend that the most appropriate sanction, following any required additional procedures as specified by the University's rules, is a suspension from University employment without pay for a term of two years.

Three members of the Committee believe that Professor Churchill’s research misconduct is so serious that it satisfies the criteria for revocation of tenure and dismissal specified in section 5.C.1 of the Laws of the Regents, and hence that revocation of tenure and dismissal, after completion of all appropriate procedures, is not an improper sanction. One of these members believes and reccomends that dismissal is the most appropriate sanction; the other two believe and recommend that the most appropriate sanction is suspension from University employment without pay for a term of five years....

One of the commenters in the Volokh post thought that Churchill's celebrity was a creation of right wing media types, like O'Reilly and Limbaugh. I disagree. I've been exposed to Churchill's "work" for a long time, even before the whole 9/11 controversy. I had two professors at UWM who taught Churchill's material as part of the class. I should've asked for refunds, considering that these classes weren't Plagarism 101 or Intro to Spotting BS.